Combined insulating and fastening means for rails.



W. R. GORRELL COMBINED INSULATING AND PASTENING MEANS PoR RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED APR Patented July .21, 1914.

Agmwam.

S14/newton 7 @www i@ te tirez-infima ,and li do' declare WXLLIAM R. GURRELL, 01" ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIAMASSIGNOR TO GORRELL S'ltlilELV sra-ras radiante onirica LOCK RAILROAD TIE CORPORATION, OF HAVRE DE GRACE. MARYLAND.

COMBNED XNSULATING ANIDIEASTENING -MANS FR RAILS.

incasso. I

Alhambra, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, `have invented certain new and useful improvements in Combined insulating and Fastening Means for Rails;

clear,-and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine. v

rihis invention relates to new and useful improvements in fastening devices for rails and more particularly vto fastening devices4 for'rails which are electrically energized and used in si naling systems and the primary object of t ie invention resides in providing an improvedinsulated fastenerlwhich is so .constructed as to permit the parts thereof to be positively secured one to the othery when positioned. v

A. further object of the`invention resides in roviding suoli a fastening means as will ena le a short circuit to'loe readily detected by the application of an ammeter to use in connection with the rail and a portion of thefastenin means. l

Still another object of the invention rei sides in providing a fastening means which is simple and durable in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and one which will be very efficient and useful in operation.

With these and other vobjects in view my invention consists vin the novel features of 'construction7 combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in the specification and claims. Y y

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application ;-Figure l is a longitudinal section through a device construct ed in accordance with my invention and applied to use. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a fragment of a rail tie with the base blocks mounted therein and the` fastening means removed. lFig. 3 is a transverse section therethrough as seen on iine 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig., fiisy a perspective view of one ofthe insuiatinof piates removed.. Fig. v5 is a similar view of the detector plate removed; and, (i is a section through. a slightly modified forni of the invention applied to use. i in'"deserila'-rA f" heiinventio shall refer l Specification of Letters Patent. ippl'leation filed April 20, i914. Serial No. 833,267.-

the following to be a fulh* therefor,

characters designate corresponding parts Patented July 2i, Maia.

throughout the several viewsv and in which l l indicates a rail tie formed preferably of' plastic material such as 4cement and the like 'Y said tie, being-reinforced by means of the reinforcing metal rods 2 vextending longitudinally therethrough. Embedded in the tie l adjacent each end thereof is a base or supporting block 3, the same having their upper and lower faces terminating siibstantially flush with the upper andflower faces of the tie proper and each biock is, bored or hollowed out in vertical and horizontal planes as clearly indicated from Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing. These hollowed out or bored out portions of the vblocks 3 rare filled with cement or other` lastic material of which the tie 1' is forme inasmuch as said blocks are molded therein and said blocks 8 are also designed to receive the reinforcing metal rods 2 in secure engagement therewith,

las clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. These metal base or supportingblocks 3 are adapted to form supporting members for the rails, it being a known fact that cement and other plastic material will not properly support rails in position under steady use. The outer end portion of each block 3 at'y ich in each set terminates at its".`

0r projection 4 with the remaining portion of the ings are irregular to receive irregularly shaped spikes locked. y p

lin theltlrawing l have shown but a single block ,3 with a rail 7 applied with respect thereto and in describing the fastening meansifortthe rail and the insulating means reference will be had to'but a single block the single rail but it will be ,understood that the structure is the same iny connection with the other rail and other =block and fastening means at the opposite end of the tie, "3 is coredeut centrally in intersectingfyerin inference, ticalandhorizontal planes icrdliglitneesand As described above, the block block and these spike receiving open l 6 whereby when the latter areA l driven in position the same will be securelyv mit lso

on the tie 1, a pair of rectangular sheets of' 10. insulating liber or the like are provided and interposed between the ber plates 9 isa thin metallic plate 10 corresponding in design to the plate 9. This latter plate may be termed a detector plate, the purpose of which will 1. be hereinafter and more particularly set `forth. The plate 9 has one end thereof bent upwardly to form a flange or the like 10 and formed at the extreme ends of each end edge of said plate 9 is a tongue 11. rhe plate 10 is likewise provided with a flange 12 corresponding to the flange 10 and also has the tongues 13 at the end edges thereof alining and registering with the tongues 11 just described. The plates 9 are depressed about 5 centrally as indicated at 14 to form depending projections or the like and, of course, the intermediate plate 10 is likewise depressed to conform thereto such depression being indicated as 15. The depressions 1e and 15 of the plates 9 and 10 respectively afford interlocking engagement therebetween and a protecting plate 15 is. also provided l to receive thereon the insulating plates 9 with the plate 10 therebetween. This plate 15 is designed identically the same as the plates 9 being provided at its ends with tongues indicated as 15" and with a central depression 15a which receives therein the depressed portions of the plates 9 and 10. Th"e plates 9, 10 and 15 when applied one to the other in proper relation to one another asl set forth, form the combined fastening and insulating means for the rai'l section andv when properly applied to the rail the de- 5 pressed portions thereof, interlocking one with the other, are received in the seat or depression 8 in the top of the tie, 'thus retaining this fastening and insulating means inJ proper position on the latter. The rail 7 is applied over this fastening means, that is the interlocking plates 9, 10 and 15 after A thc latter have been properly osit-ioned with respect `to the -te so that t e depressions thereof are seated or received in the seat 8 and when so disposed, the alining tongues 11, 13, and 15b of said plates 9, 10 and 15 respectively are bent upwardly and then inn wardly for engagement with the upper faces of the base flanges of said rail. .The spikes G are then driven honie in their respective channels 5 and the heads of said spikesv engaging the bent tongues will secure the latter in proper engagement with th'e up- J :es of the base'flanges, thus retaining per t' said rail in proper position on the tie. When so positioned, it will be seen that the rail will be secured at the side edgesof the base flanges while the under face of the latter for the greater portion of the width thereof will be entirely spaced from the fastening or insulating means as clearly disclosed in Fig. 1 of the drawing. It will further be seen that absolutely no metal will contact with the rail proper so that the latter will be completely insulated from projections or other members Icarried on the tie and a current passing through the rail is not adapted to be readily short circuited.

While have shown a positive means for fastening and insulating the rail from the various metal portions carried on the tie, it will be understood that in ractice after constant 'use it is quite possible that pon tions of the insulating plate may become unduly Worn or chipped sothat parts of the metal plates may contactwith the rail orin other ways a short circuit may occur. When such a shortV circuit occurs, the mainammeter will indicate the same and the one in l charge may determine approximately at what portion in the line of rails the short circuit occurs. A Having thus located approximately at what point in the rail the short circuit occurs, a tester is sent to that particular portion of the rail to test the various rail fastening means through the medium of a portable or pocket ammeter. In this latter test, one terminal of the ammeter islapplied to the rail and the other tothe detector, plate-or the protection plate and it can be readily determined by tests of several of the rail fastening means along the line at what particular point the short circuit occurs. Having thus determined the exact point, the particular fastening means at this point is removed and new insulating plates and, if necessary, new plates, are applied and the diiiiculty is thus remedied. From the above description it will be seen that it is only necessary under such conditions, to remove the particular fastening and insulating means at which particular point the short circuit occurs andlas this short circuiti may be readily and quickly detected, considerable time, lalior andexpense is thus avoided.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a slightly modified formof the invention whereina block orljthe like 16 which is formed of metal is einbedded in a cement or other plastic tie 17, the latter being reinforced by longitudinal rods, as in theiirst mentioned form. This block 16 is cored out or hollowed centrally as shown atV 18 whichholl-owed or cored outj portion affords lightness and the upper portion of the block 16 at the one end thereof detector and protection' Sil its Y License saine being substantially rectangular in de-l sign and having the tongue portions 22 formed thereon. il. protecting plate 23 is provided therefor the same being identically designed as the plate 2l and the latter is adapted to be received directly on the upper face of the block i6. llhe plate 23 as Well as the plate 2l is depressed centrally asindicated at 2e to be received in the upperl portion of the hollowed out portion 18 of said block lo. lihis provides an interlocking means between the plates 2l and 23 and the lolock l and the alining tongues of the plates 2l and 23 are adanted to be bent over` one another and ver the upper faces of the hase flanges of the rail section and secured in positie-n by mea-ns of the head on the spikes 2G. lThe rail section is thus securely held in position on the tie and at the same time insulated from all metal portions of the latter, it lacing clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing wat the greater portion of the under face of the base flanges of said rail section is spaced from any portions whatsoever in view of the depressionsin the plates Which are receivedin the hollovved portion of. the block While there is no detector plate or the like provided in this particular form of the invention it Will he understood that 4in case o short circuit, the same may be readily determined by the same means as mentirmed above in connection With the first mentioned form.

TEroni the foregoing description of the construction of my'improved rail securing and' insulating mechanism the operation thereof and the manner of applying the same to use will be readily understood and it Will be seen that l have provided a sinipleJ inexpensive and eflioient means for carrying out the ob]ects of the invent/ion.

While l have particularly described the' elements best adapted to 'perform the functions set forth, it is, obvious that various changes in form, proportion and inthev minor details of construction may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims, Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any. of'the principles ofthe invention.N l

Having thus described my invent-ion,what l claim` is: y v

1. In a rail fastening and insulating means, the combination'with a track rail and said t-ie and van insulating late applied thereto, means forming interlo king engagement between said chair and 1 ulating plate .tie therefor,` of a metallic che?!v mountd on and additional means inlconnc'tion with the tie and last mentioned mean g taining the chair in place on sid tie.

2 'lln a rail fastening and `insulating means, the combination with a trck rail and tie therefor; of a chair comprising an insulating plate receiving the base flanges of the rail thereon, a protecting plate designed coincident to the outline of said insulating late and receiving the latter thereon, said insulatin and protecting-plates being pro vided with interlocking depressions and means in connection with the tie and the depressions of said plates to aid in the retention of the chair on said tie.

means, the combination ,with `a track rail and a tietherefor, the latter being rovided with a depression :n its.. upper flace over which said track rail isadapted to be disposed; of a chair comprising an insulating plate for the reception of the `base flanges of said rail thereon, a metallic protecting plate designed coincident to the outline of said insulating plate and receiving the latter thereon, said insulating and protecting plates being provided with interlocking depressions received inthe depression in the upper'face of the tie, whereby to retain said chair in position thereon.

el. In a rail fastening and, insulating means, a chair comprising a pair of insulating plates, metallic spacing means therefor, a metallic protecting plate for the same, and means formed in connection With said plates for the interlocking of the same one to the other.

` 5. ln a rail fastening and insulating means, a chair comprising a pair of insulating plates, a vmetallic spacing plate interposed therebetween, and a protecting plate receiving the aforesaid plates thereon, said Ainsulating and metallic plates being provided with interlocking depressions to retain the same one to the other and also aid in the retention ofthe chair on a tie.

6. ln a raill fastening and insulatingA means, a chair comprising a substantially rectangular insulating member provided with engaging tongues at the ends thereof, a metallic protecting platel therefor designed coincident thereto and receiving said insulating member thereon, and interlocking projectionsformed on said plate and 4member to secure the same one tothe other and aid-.in the retention of the chair on a tie.

7.' ln a rail fastening` and insulating means,,a chaircomprising a pair of substantially rectangular insulating plates rovided with engaging tongues at the endst ereof, a metallicspacmg plate interposed therebetween and designed coincident to the out- 'line thereof,.a metallic protectin plate also designed coincident to the' out ine of the aforesaid `plate and 'receiving the latter thereon, and` means formed in connection v'with said plates for interlocking the same one to the other. c

8. llin a' rail` ,fair-Lening and insulating means, a chair comprising a substantially rectangular insulatin plate provided with engaging tongues att e ends thereof, :1 rne-y tallicspacing plate interposed therebetween and designed coincident to the outline thereof, a metallic protectin plate designed coincident to the outline o the aforesaid plates and receiving the latter thereon, the laforesaid plates. being provided with interlocking depressions to secure the same one to the other and also aid in the retention of the chair in place on a' tie:

9. The' combination with a metal rein- -forced concrete tie having open metallic blocks forming track rail seats end rovided with shoulders, track rails and .headed astenings to festen the rails to said block, a

rectangular insulating seat to underlie the j bases of said rails over sind blocks and formed at their edges with tongues34 and reotungular protecting plates formed on their.

side edges with tongues to cover the insulating tongues and to underlie the heads of said fustenings, the plates and insulating seats being'co-extensive in size and each having on one edgeupstanding danges disposed between the rails `and the shoulders on said blocks,.lthe bottoms of said plates lhaving stamped in their central portions doWnward ly projec-tin? bosses to enter the hollow portions of the blocks to prevent the plates 4 from slipping.

In testimony whereof I hnveherennto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses. e

WILLAM R. GORI-HELL.

a/Vitnesses: I

A. G. HUTGHINsoN, WV. EL GronHELLq 

